


Real Page Turner

by FantasySwap



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Coming Out, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff & Humour, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Drug Use, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-01-11 20:26:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasySwap/pseuds/FantasySwap
Summary: “How’s everyone’s day going?” Klaus asks with a shit eating grin. “Any exciting incidents? Noteworthy comments? Say, did anyone get paired with an absolute douche canoe for a school project today? Woah, that’s totally crazy, I did!”—In which Diego does not have a crush on his annoying Lit partner, and Klaus does not enjoy winding him up.





	1. Chapter 1

Klaus doesn’t have anything against literature. Really, he doesn’t. It’s fascinating to him when it’s something he can actually engage with, like comic books or funny little limericks—because no matter what anybody says to him, that _is_ literature! It’s just when they’re studying five hundred page novels or poems from six hundred years ago, the class tends to drag a little, and Klaus cannot imagine anything worse than a group project researching more crusty old poets.

 

And the worst thing is, it’s not even a group project. It’s a paired project, which means whoever Klaus gets paired with will inevitably not be one of his two friends and will, therefore, make him do all the work. The likelihood of their less than amiable teacher pairing Klaus and Ben off together is below average - just like Klaus’ grade for her class - and even so it would mean that Vanya was left alone again. No, Klaus is going to get paired with some dumb jock who’ll make fun of his eyeliner and is probably homophobic to boot.

 

Forty percent of their overall grade and it’s going to go down the plughole because their bitter teacher couldn’t stop herself from pairing random people together. Granted, Klaus probably wouldn’t have put much effort into it in the first place, but it’s the principle that matters, and Klaus is deeply offended.

 

He sighs and catches Ben’s attention over in the corner, makes sure to roll his eyes very dramatically. Ben snickers in response and shakes his head at Klaus’ antics, no doubt wishing he could say all manner of responsible, adult-like things to Klaus. Klaus looks away before that can happen and gets distracted by their teacher reading our their project partners.

 

Ben gets some tiny kid who looks like he belongs in kindergarten. Klaus remembers him from last year— his name is Five and he skipped at least three grades on his way to the top of their class. He groans obnoxiously loudly when their names get called, and makes a point of staying firmly planted in his seat so Ben has to be the one to move to sit next to him. Klaus catches his eye and signs a cross over his chest, sitting back, satisfied, when Ben snickers.

 

“And finally,” The teacher shoots Klaus a fake smile that can only be described as bitchy. “Klaus and Diego. Now if you can all get into your pairs and start brainstorming ideas for your projects, that would be fantastic.”

 

Now Klaus can sympathise with Five, however much of a little bastard he is. He feels like groaning obnoxiously loudly himself, because exactly what he thought would happen has happened. He’s been paired with some sports-addled asshole who only cares about getting a passing grade so he can keep playing baseball or whatever it is the alpha male types around here like playing. Klaus has never actually spoken to Diego personally, but he knows who he hangs out with and the thought makes his stomach sink.

 

Klaus has yelled at Luther Hargreeves enough times for tripping Vanya in the hall or calling Ben names in phys-ed classes to know that that deadly trio - Luther, Diego and Allison - are not exactly the type of people to take their education entirely seriously. Moreover, Klaus is fairly certain Diego hates him, and he has no idea why.

 

Klaus looks around the room trying to locate the man of the hour - because it wouldn’t surprise him if Diego pulled a Five just to be a jerk - but the guy is nowhere to be seen. Klaus settles back into his seat grumbling to himself and decides that he’ll do this damned group project himself if he has to.

 

“Hey ghost boy.” Someone says from right behind him, and Klaus almost jumps out of his skin. Diego is hovering behind Klaus’ desk in a position that, if it were anyone else, would look almost awkward, but somehow Diego being the cool kid he is manages to pull off. He smirks when he sees Klaus’ startled expression and slips the strap of his rucksack over his shoulder and to the floor, sliding into the empty desk next to Klaus.

 

“You know,” Klaus replies primly. “That nickname got old two years ago. Let it go already.”

 

“But it started a trend!” Diego objects, grinning like he thinks Klaus is joking. Boy is he in for a shock if they’re going to have to be working together for any length of time. Klaus is never serious, and he’s never joking, and Diego would do well to realise that sooner rather than later.

 

“If by trend you mean Luther successfully managed to make the whole school think I was a freak then yes, my apologies, you’re so right.” Klaus responds, laying the sarcasm on thick. He digs a ball point pen out of his pocket and starts doodling in the margins of his notebook, bored of the conversation already. To his credit Diego doesn’t drag it out, seeming to pick up on the changed mood and go with it.

 

“Nah, you did that all by yourself, Klaus.” He shrugs, and Klaus is surprised he even knows his name. “So what are we even doing for this project thing? You were listening, right?”

 

Klaus throws his pen down on his desk in frustration. “You weren’t listening? You do realise this is almost half of our final grade, right? Could you possibly take this the slightest bit seriously, or is that too much to ask?”

 

Diego squares his jaw, crossing his arms over his chest and even though it’s meant to be intimidating Klaus can’t help but admire the boy’s biceps a little bit. He’s not as big as Luther, but everyone knows that kid is on steroids. For a seventeen year old he’s impressively built, and what Klaus wouldn’t give to get a glimpse of his abs mid workout, all covered in sweat. Klaus bets he’d look just about lickable, and it’s a shame his shitty personality gets in the way.

 

“Well what _is_ the project, freak?” Diego retorts, and okay, so maybe Klaus didn’t think this particular jab through too well.

 

“I don’t know!” Klaus exclaims, arms flapping everywhere. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Ben watching him and smirking, because this is Klaus’ go to move whenever he’s frustrated. “I wasn’t listening!”

 

“I do hope you boys are discussing your work.” Their teacher swoops in, gives them both disapproving stares until Klaus sighs and picks up his pen pointedly, waving it in her face. He’s about to give some sarcastic, obnoxious retort but Diego gets there first.

 

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.” Klaus’ neck snaps backwards so fast that he’s surprised he doesn’t get whiplash. Diego has his head hung in contrition and he looks up at their teacher meekly, like a five year old with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Klaus just about manages to wait until the woman has moved away before he lets out the laugh that’s been bubbling up in his chest for the past minute. Diego flushes angrily and scowls at Klaus.

 

“Are you a momma’s boy?” Klaus crows incredulously, and when Diego clenches his jaw he claps his hands together gleefully. “Holy shit, you _are_! You are totally a momma’s boy, look at you—” Diego slams a hand down onto Klaus’ desk, making all the pens rattle and fall to the floor. A silence descends over the entire class, but a sharp instruction from their teacher makes the chaotic hum pick up again. Ben mouths ‘what the fuck’ at him, but he just shakes his head.

 

“Listen,” Diego leans in close so that Klaus can smell his breath: minty, like the gum he’s popping annoyingly in Klaus’ face. “I don’t want to work with you any more than you want to work with me, ghost boy. But we have to, so let’s keep personal conversation to a minimum, capiche?”

 

Klaus hesitates, lost staring at Diego. His face really is beautiful, with a well structured jawline and cheekbones that could cut glass. He has big, brown eyes that, even when he’s mad, make him look like puss in boots. The cute one, from Shrek. He’s just as prickly as well, just as bad a temper.

 

Then, “Who the hell even says capiche any more? Seriously, are you from the eighties? C’mon, man, you’re supposed to be the cool one here.”

 

Diego throws his head back and groans, running a mournful hand over his face and exhaling heavily. Yeah, this whole partnered project thing? Klaus really isn’t into it.

 

———

 

Later at lunch Klaus finds Ben and Vanya at their familiar table and sits with a heavy, dramatic sigh. He steals a fry off Ben’s plate and slaps his hand away when he tries to take a carrot stick off Klaus’, even though the trade is more than fair. Vanya puts the book she’s reading face down on the table: the spine is creased and bendy, and Klaus suspects it’s one she’s borrowing from Ben. They’ve spent enough time in each other’s rooms that Klaus is pretty sure he could recite every title on Ben’s shelf off by heart.

 

“How’s everyone’s day going?” Klaus asks with a shit eating grin. “Any exciting incidents? Noteworthy comments? Say, did anyone get paired with an absolute douche canoe for a school project today? Woah, that’s totally crazy, _I_ did!”

 

Ben drops his head into his hands and Vanya just rolls her eyes with a slight smile. They’re used to his behaviour by now, and what makes other students call him a freak is what drew the group together in the first place. Ben is his brother on all counts except blood, and Vanya is their best friend.

 

“Hey, I got paired with Harold Jenkins!” Vanya exclaims sadly. “Last year in home-ec he asked me for my phone number, and when I said no he tipped my lasagne all over the floor. I got an F.” Ben shakes his head with a grimace on his face and Klaus tips his head sympathetically for a brief moment.

 

“Okay, okay, that’s all very tragic but can we go back to my problem? Asshole jock? School project?” He reminds them, deeply wounded by the way Ben flicks a pea at his head. He manages to dodge it and it smacks Allison Hargreeves on the side of her face. They all whip around to face each other and don’t risk turning round again until Vanya gives them the signal that Allison isn’t glaring at them anymore.

 

“It’s just a project, Klaus.” Ben tells him unhelpfully. “Just do the work, get it over and done with and you never have to talk to the guy again. What’s the worst that could happen?” This is a very bad question, actually, because Klaus could recite a hell of a long list at him. Being the kind, good natured friend he is, however, he refrains.

 

“Uh, well, I invited him to our flat tomorrow afternoon to work on the project. He’ll know where we live and could potentially kill us in our sleep, so there’s that.” Klaus explains in the same tone of voice someone might say, ‘duh.’ Then he adds on a little sheepishly, “Oh, yeah, is it okay if I invite someone over tomorrow?”

 

“Fine, just stay out of the kitchen. I won’t be able to go shopping until Sunday and we need to eat.” Klaus sticks his tongue out at Ben, always the killjoy.

 

“You’re such a mom.” He complains, crunching down aggressively on a carrot stick. “What if we get hungry?”

 

“You could always, I don’t know, go shopping yourself for once?” Ben suggests with what Klaus imagines is just a seed of hope he has left after almost a year of living together. It’s impressive that he’s kept it this long in all honesty; Klaus snickers at the suggestion, and Ben scowls.

 

“So,” Vanya interrupts before they can start another domestic squabble in the middle of the cafeteria. “Ben, how’s your project partner?”

 

“Petition to start calling them PP’s?” Klaus interjects hopefully, and unsurprisingly is ignored.

 

“He’s alright actually.” Ben admits, eating one of Klaus’ fries, and when did he manage to sneak that off his plate? Klaus swears he has eight arms, he always seems ten steps ahead of everyone else. “I was expecting him to be a snob, but he’s really smart and wasn’t condescending or anything. He didn’t even call me octapussy once!”

 

“Ooh, do you have a crush on the teletubby?” Klaus teases, aiming a carrot stick at his head.

 

“Please,” Ben replies. “He’s fifteen, not five, and it’s an intellectual boner at best.” Out of the corner of his eye Klaus sees Vanya’s hand slowly creeping along the table towards her book, so he throws a carrot stick at her for good measure. No one escapes that easily.

 

“You say potato.” Klaus shrugs, and lets out a pained groan when the bell for the end of lunch sounds. “Any tips to get through an hour of algebra without impaling myself on my pencil? Because I’ve been sharpening it, really, I can show you.” He reaches into his bag to prove it.

 

“Please don’t.” Ben deadpans.

 

“Find X?” Vanya supplies unhelpfully, so he sticks his tongue out at her too.

 

“Whatever,” Klaus dismisses them, wilting under the weight of his rucksack. “Vanya, you wanna come over tonight? Ben and I are making Indian food!”

 

“We are _not_.” Ben says, at the exact same time that Vanya says, “Can’t, sorry. I’ve got a violin lesson tonight.”

 

“Aren’t you, like, grade one hundred already?” Klaus scoffs. “Why do you even need lessons?”

 

Vanya just shrugs. “My teacher’s hot.” She says eventually, and Klaus doesn’t need to ask any more questions. That is a totally reasonable answer as far as he’s concerned. “Besides, my parents want me to keep going until I get to grade eight. Apparently I’m a prodigy.” She uses quotation marks as she says the word, but her cheeks tint pink and Klaus can tell it makes her happy.

 

“Whatever,” He says. “Move in with us. It’d be so much easier.”

 

Vanya cocks an eyebrow at him and exchanges an incredulous look with Ben. “It was literally a horribly stressful six month period for you both to get emancipated and find a landlord that would take two teenage boys with no references.” Klaus holds up a hand in her face, a hastily scribbled ‘goodbye’ oh his palm. She sighs.

 

“Come on,” She says. “I’ll walk you to class. Bye, Ben.”

 

Ben waves them goodbye and is pulling Klaus’ mostly untouched plate towards him before they’ve even rounded the corner. Rude way to mourn the loss of his presence, Klaus decides.

 

“Just so you know,” Klaus links his arm through Vanya’s and whispers into her ear. “We so totally are having Indian tonight.”

 

***

 

Seeing Diego in Klaus and Ben’s shared apartment really is weird, Klaus discovers as he watches the boy kick off his trainers at the door and hang his coat over the back of the sofa. It’s horribly messy because Klaus and Ben had an unexpected gaming competition last night after they’d both finished their homework, and when Ben games, he games hard. Empty crisp bags litter the floor and there’s a half full can of Pepsi spilling over the floor. Klaus right it with his feet and lifts his arms up dramatically, dropping them to his sides after a few seconds.

 

“Willkommen.” He says, kicking a lone shoe out of the hallway and leading Diego through the mess towards his bedroom. He’s ninety percent sure he doesn’t have anything too incriminating in too obvious places, but if he does then Diego will just have to suck it up.

 

“Did you bring your books?” Klaus asks, shutting his bedroom door behind Diego and straight away spotting the cherry end of a lit joint burning away on his algebra textbook. Whoops.

 

“Yeah,” Diego says slowly, turning around on the spot to take in every inch of Klaus’ bedroom. Klaus is well aware that it’s a little gloomy: it has a cracked wall that he’s tried and failed to cover up with a dozen peeling posters, and his light flickers anytime it’s turned on and off too quickly. His window is too stiff to open so the smell of smoke always backs up and settles over the room in a heavy, cloying cloud. It’s probably nothing compared to Diego’s house. Klaus bets Diego has a fucking mansion, that would just figure.

 

“Where did you say your parents were again?” Diego frowns, eyeing the spliff suspiciously like he’s never gotten high before. Klaus will add that to the list of things he doesn’t believe for a second, along with ‘Ben can play the piano’ and ‘Vanya is fluent in Russian’. _Pravda_ his ass.

 

“I don’t live with my parents.” Klaus tells him with a little hand-wave of dismissal as he collects his English textbook and slaps it down onto the floor in front of him. He sits cross legged and pats the floor next to him, encouraging Diego to sit down. “I live with Ben.”

 

“…Why?” Diego asks, sitting reluctantly and opening his own notebook to reveal a list of what Klaus assumes are potential prospects for their project. So the asshole actually does pay attention, go figure.

 

Klaus shifts. He’s not entirely uncomfortable with this line of conversation, but it’s one he’s had so many times before with so many people in official, scary looking uniforms that it’s hard not to associate it with bad times. Diego seems to pick up on his hesitation because he swallows and furrows his eyebrows at Klaus.

 

“Sorry,” he murmurs, sounding a little embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to make you…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, leaving Klaus to fill in the blanks. He shakes his head, not sure why he’s going out of his way to reassure Diego. The guy’s cute, he supposes, in a pretty boy way with his big eyes and his full lips. Flirting would probably be a bad idea right now, especially with Diego in his bedroom, but…

 

“You couldn’t make me anything, darling.” Klaus drawls in an attempt to banish the awkward atmosphere that’s settled over them. He leans back on his hands and bites his bottom lip in a jokingly seductive way. That is, it’s meant to be joking, but if Diego finds it seductive and decides to jump his bones then he’s decidedly okay with that as well.

 

Except, it doesn’t banish the awkward atmosphere between them. If anything it extends it, because Diego flushes and licks his lips and looks anywhere but Klaus’ face. He plucks at the front of his t-shirt like he’s too hot - and it is stifling in the room, so maybe Klaus would buy that if it weren’t for the way that he glances at Klaus from under his long eyelashes every now and then. Interesting.

 

“So,” Klaus says enthusiastically, evidently startling Diego with the volume. He peers forward to get a glimpse of Diego’s notebook. “What are your ideas? ‘ _Lolita_?’ How scandalous!”

 

“N—No.” Diego stutters, and a muscle in his jaw tics at the misstep. “I crossed that one out. I was thinking more along the lines of ‘ _1984_ ’. ‘ _The_ _Handmaid’s_ _Tale_ ’, maybe. Something that really shows the link between present day and what we would consider a dystopian future. What do you think?”

 

Klaus raises his eyebrows. Frankly he’s surprised Diego has even read those books - and yes, he’s aware he’s being a little unfair on the boy, but Diego stood by and let Allison start a rumour that he killed his own parents so he thinks they’re about even. He leans forward on all fours and crawls across the carpet, spine arched, cat like, until he can properly read Diego’s messy writing.

 

“Those are some big words, Diego.” He breathes, inches away from Diego’s mouth. There’s a beat of silence where neither of them move, both staring at each other in frozen anticipation. Then they both seem to surge forward at the same time, lips meeting in the middle.

 

For what Klaus assumes is Diego’s first time kissing a dude it isn’t horrible at all. Klaus is used to letting the other person control the pace and the flow of their make-out sessions, so when Diego licks along his bottom lip he opens his mouth eagerly. Diego’s tongue slips into his mouth and licks behind his teeth; Klaus sucks on his tongue until they’re both breathless and panting. Somewhere in the middle of that Diego’s hands had gravitated to Klaus’ waist and Klaus’ hands are around Diego’s neck, hanging on for dear life. When Diego pulls away his breath puffs against Klaus’ lips and his eyes are wide, scared.

 

“F– Fu– Fuck.” Diego stammers, hands shaking as he hurries to pack his bag up, even though he only just got here. “Fuck. I shouldn’t have— I’ve gotta. Gotta go.”

 

“Diego! Wait, don’t—” Klaus tries to object, standing up and following him as he runs back through the flat, shucking on his jacket and hopping around on one foot until he’s successfully shoved his feet into his shoes. He doesn’t even bother to tie the laces up, doesn’t even bother to say goodbye to Klaus. He just bolts, and leaves the door open behind him.

 

“Go.” Klaus finishes lamely. Ben creaks his bedroom door open and peers out, eyes bleary like Klaus’ antics have woken him up from his afternoon nap— which he totally does take, however much he protests.

 

“What did you do to Diego Hargreeves?” Ben asks in disbelief.

 

For once, Klaus genuinely doesn’t have an answer.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really just dropped a chapter and fucked off didn’t I? Sorry about that, I hope you enjoy this anyway! <3

The Hargreeves trio are assholes at the best of times. Luther is by far the worst of them - and the most confusing - in that he has a strict moral compass that for some reason allows him to push people around. Skip a lesson? Nope. Talk back to a teacher? Absolutely not. Trip Klaus up in the hallway and shoulder barge past him on the way out of class? Sign him the fuck up.

 

It’s a mindfuck, is what it is, and Klaus can’t help but wonder what sort of upbringing he’s had that makes him value education over human decency.

 

Allison isn’t too bad, he supposes, just a massive gossip. She ignores the way Luther treats half the population of the school and pretends not to understand why nobody likes them. She’s the kind of person who’ll cry at a sad news story and then start a rumour that Vanya sleeps with her violin.

 

(Okay, Klaus may have had a part in that one as well but he only ever said it to Ben!)

 

But Diego… Diego is acting like more of an asshole now that he ever has before. Klaus never really knew him all that well, just has to sit in the back of his English class and listen to everybody fantasising over the boy’s abs. Which, okay, understandable. But still.

 

“Klaus,” Ben interrupts his thoughts, nudging their shoulders together. They’re walking down the corridor towards the history department, and Ben has been talking at Klaus about his latest venture with Boy Scout Five ever since they left their previous class. “Have you been listening to anything I just said?”

 

“Sure, sure.” Klaus nods airily. Ben sighs. “Wonderkid’s a genius, you’re madly in love with him, whatever.”

 

“No.” Ben smiles sweetly at Klaus— too sweetly. He only ever does that when he’s about to say something Klaus isn’t going to like. “ _Wonderkid_ is going to be over at our apartment this evening.”

 

“Mhm, yep, absolutely— wait, what?” Klaus does a double take and looks up in time to see Ben biting back a grin and veering off in the other direction to make it in time for his modern history class. “Hey, wait! But I need the apartment tonight! _Ben_!”

 

Ben just holds his hand up over his shoulder and gives Klaus the finger without even turning around. He groans and kicks the ground, not caring about all the other students who walk in a wide circle around him to avoid getting too close. He can’t really blame them.

 

It’s not a big deal, he supposes, trying to console himself. He and Diego will just have to find somewhere else to work tonight; that is if Diego agrees to even be in the same room as Klaus after what happened the other night. Klaus might have to resign himself to finishing this project alone, but at least that way he won’t have to spend time in a public library.

 

(His public library ban sort of made sure of that already, but this way no one has to find out.)

 

He’s just about to head off to his own class when someone from behind him walks right into him, the force of their body sending him flying across the hall. The books in his hands scatter across the floor and Klaus only just manages to keep himself from face planting by catching his hand against the row of lockers.

 

“Dude!” Klaus cries, outraged, before he has time to think it might be a bad idea. The hallway quietens down a little at the potential fight and Klaus rolls his eyes. High schoolers are so thirsty for some break in their monotonous routine that they’d literally rather watch a scrawny, mouthy asshole get beaten up than go to class.

 

Klaus completely understands. In fact if it wasn’t his ass on the line he’d be the first to chant, ‘fight!’ He turns around irritatedly to see, what a surprise, Luther Hargreeves swaggering away from him with his giant overcoat and shit eating grin. Klaus rolls his eyes. Twat.

 

He’s leaning down to try and gather up his books and reaches out for the farthest away when he sees approaching feet in his peripheral vision, and someone is kicking his notebook down the corridor, even further out of reach. Klaus yelps and draws back his hand immediately, grateful his fingers aren’t broken.

 

“What the hell, asshole?” Klaus complains, craning his neck to see Diego looking over him. He sneers at the sight of Klaus sprawled out on the floor, crawling around to regain both his books and his dignity, and walks off after Luther without a word. Klaus swallows.

 

Okay, so Diego is being a complete asshole. And Klaus is probably going to fail. Excellent.

 

***

 

Diego finds him again at lunch, seeks him out all on his own like the mature young adult he is. Klaus is sitting with Vanya and Ben like usual at their normal lunch table, engaged in a friendly debate about the benefits of cheerleading, when Vanya trails off and stares at some point over Klaus’ shoulder.

 

He turns in his seat, preparing to see an angry teacher or the gaggle of eight grade fangirls that have seemed to follow him around ever since he wore a miniskirt to school that one time. Hell, he’s even expecting to see Luther looming behind him ready to finish the job he started earlier. He’s not expecting to see a nervous Diego Hargreeves, shifting from foot to foot and clutching the straps of his backpack behind him.

 

“Hey,” He says, and then stands there in silence.

 

Klaus narrows his eyes and crosses his legs on over the other, biting into a carrot stick with renewed vigour. Diego winces, and even Ben blinks in surprise, though maybe that’s more to do with his concern for Klaus’ dental safety.

 

“What can I do for you, pal?” Klaus raises an eyebrow. Vanya snorts, but Diego shoots her such a venemous gaze she pales a little bit and swallows back any smart remark she was about to make. Klaus scowls.

 

“We’ve gotta work on our project.” Diego tells him blankly, which, thank you, Klaus already fucking _knows_. If Diego hadn’t been such an asshole earlier Klaus would have been able to tell him the situation already. As it is, he’s going to have to tell him in front of his only two friends, where Diego could easily latch onto them as targets. Or murder them, though that is looking significantly less likely by the second. Diego’s eyes are becoming more and more desperate with every moment that Klaus stays silent, and Klaus almost feels sorry for him.

 

“I’m sorry, okay!” He hisses, eyes darting to Ben and Vanya who are doing an awful job of pretending not to listen. He takes a nervous step closer to Klaus’ table, glancing over his shoulder like he’s checking no one is watching.

 

“What for?” Klaus asks, genuinely curious.

 

“For kicking your stuff, Christ.” Diego rolls his eyes, though it seems more defensive than anything else. “Didn’t realise you’d be such a little bitch about it or I wouldn’t have done it. Sorry, okay?”

 

Klaus tilts his head to the side, considering. On the one hand, rude, but on the other it’s probably the best apology he’ll ever get out of Diego. He’ll take it.

 

“Alright.” He shrugs, scraping his chair against the floor noisily as he turns bodily to face Diego. “Whatever you say.”

 

“So… our project?” Diego persists, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing at the clock pointedly, like he has anywhere more interesting to be than fourth period lunch hour.

 

“Yes, okay,” Klaus grumbles, catching Ben’s eye. “Well, here’s the thing. My friend here has taken a lover–”

 

“Fuck off–”

 

“And so we won’t be able to come to my apartment tonight. I don’t know where you live but I sort of… can’t ever go back to the public library. So, um, yeah.” Klaus finishes in a rush, ignoring Vanya choking on her sip of water opposite him. She’s probably only just got over the traumatic memory, and here he is dredging it back up again.

 

“First of all,” Ben interrupts, flicking the end of Klaus’ nose. “He is not my lover. We are partners - _school_ _partners_ \- and secondly he’s only fifteen.”

 

“Age is just a number, my friend.” Klaus swings his legs onto the table with a smirk, and ends up swinging them down again guiltily when Agnes sends him A Look from behind the cafeteria servery.

 

“You know what else is just a number, Klaus?” Diego stresses, sounding fairly irritated now. “Forty. You know, the percentage of our grade that will go down the drain _if_ _you_ _don’t_ _sort_ _this_ _out_.”

 

“Hey, now, hold up!” Klaus throws his hands up in surrender and stands suddenly. Diego is much closer than he originally thought - either that or he gravitated closer in the course of Klaus’ rambling - and they’re standing toe to toe. Diego is just slightly taller than him and so he has to bend his neck back a little, scrunching his nose up at Diego and crossing his arms defensively.

 

“Me?” Klaus asks innocently. “What do _I_ have to sort out? As far as I’m concerned this is a joint project, and your place is just as good as mine.”

 

“No.” Diego snaps immediately. Klaus is conscious of Ben and Vanya - as well as a good portion of the cafeteria - watching them intently, and really, he gets it. Diego is one of the notorious three, and Klaus is one of the much less infamous three. People don’t know him, and if they do then they probably don’t like him, and here’s Diego practically tongue fucking him in the middle of the room. He doesn’t know whether Diego is actually aware of the amount of sexual tension between them right now, but he really doesn’t want to break the atmosphere.

 

“You can’t just say no, Diego.” Klaus complains. “We’ve got to go somewhere, and we can’t go to mine. Ben’s boyfriend attests to that.”

 

“Suck a dick, Klaus.” Ben calls out unenthusiastically, and then at Diego’s expression he stumbles over his own words to clarify. “No dick in particular, though! I mean— I just mean, don’t worry. No heterosexual dick will be sucked. By Klaus. I mean—”

 

Vanya reaches out to pat his shoulder comfortingly and he cuts himself off, slowly slipping down in his chair.

 

Diego is silent for a few moments that, standing there actually being watched by him, feel like hours. Eventually, just as Klaus is beginning to think maybe he should sit back down again and wait for Diego to start working again, the other boy sighs. He leans past Klaus to pluck the pen straight out of Vanya’s hand and grabs Klaus’ wrist. He manhandles Klaus so that his palm is facing upwards and holds the pen lid between his teeth, scribbling something onto the soft skin of Klaus’ inner arm. Klaus holds his breath, watching Diego out of the corner of his eye. He really is exceptionally attractive— just a shame he tried to break Klaus’ fingers.

 

“There,” Diego speaks lowly, sticking the other end of the pen in Klaus’ mouth, open in surprise. “Come here after school. I’m not giving you a lift.”

 

With that he seems to realise how they’re attracting everyone’s attention and he scowls at Klaus again before stalking out of the room. Klaus drops back into his chair with one hand pressed to his chest and one flung over his forehead dramatically.

 

“You’re going to give that poor boy a sexuality crisis.” Vanya shakes her head with a fond smile on her face.

 

“Hey, that’s unfair!” Klaus whines, even though it kind of isn’t. “Ben has a boyfriend, rag on him.”

 

Distantly, he hears Ben exclaim about the injustice of that or something equally boring, but he’s too distracted to really focus on it. He’s totally going to give Diego an early sexuality crisis, but if he’s lucky then he won’t get ditched this time. If he’s not…

 

Well. Klaus guesses he’ll find out.

 

***

 

The Hargreeves mansion is actually fucking insane. Klaus has heard rumours about it of course, most of them supposedly coming from Allison herself, but he’s never seen pictures and he doubted the credibility of it being as big as a palace. Maybe it’s just because the house he lived in before moving into his shitty apartment with Ben was never all that great anyway, but he’s never seen anything like this before.

 

Even the door is majestic: a deep, red wood with a knocker in the shape of a lion’s head. When the door is opened for him - by an honest-to-god Butler - Klaus sees that the inside is just as fancy as the outside. It has a sweeping staircase and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the entrance. Klaus is a little bit overwhelmed, and he’d probably spend a good few minutes just gawping and spinning around in circles is Diego didn’t show up just then.

 

“Klaus,” He says in a low voice. “Follow me.”

 

He doesn’t acknowledge the Butler, so Klaus thanks him and hurried after Diego. The boy leads him through a maze of hallways, all adorned with various paintings, until they get to a particular door a little further down. They all look the same to Klaus so he has no idea how Diego recognisesit as his bedroom, but when he turns the doorknob the door swings open and they step inside. Very carefully, very quietly, Diego closes the door behind them. When he turns back to face Klaus he lets out a heavy sigh and shakes his head.

 

“Are you alright, dude?” Klaus asks, because as much as he wants Diego to back him up against the wall and maybe choke him right now, he doesn’t actually want Diego to be afraid of him. That would be counterproductive on all counts.

 

“Yeah,” Diego replies brusquely, brushing past him and spreading out a preprepared pile of workbooks for Klaus to see. He doesn’t want to push the issue so he shrugs and sits crosslegged on the floor; he’s not sure how long they’re working for, but by the time Klaus throws himself backwards onto the floor he’s mind numbingly bored and they’ve actually made some progress. For Klaus, that’s a novelty.

 

“God, this is so boring. Don’t you have any video games or anything? Could we at least smoke a joint?” Klaus moans, bending his legs at the knees and peeking out from behind his fingers, watching Diego watch him. The other boy seems amused, but like he isn’t letting himself smile properly for some reason. Klaus wants to change that.

 

“C’mon, Diego.” He sing-songs, pushing himself up onto his knees and crawling over to the bed. Whilst Klaus had chosen to sit on the floor Diego was sitting on the edge of his mattress, feet planted firmly on the floor. Klaus wraps a hand around his ankle gently and digs his nails in a little, grinning sharply when Diego hisses.

 

“No,” he answers shortly, but he sounds like he’s fighting back a grin. “Stop messing around, I wanna get this finished quickly.”

 

“We’ve been working for hours, Diego. _Relax_.” Klaus gets a hand on Diego’s knee and suddenly Diego’s smile morphs into something different: something nervous, something interested. His legs spread almost unconsciously to accommodate for Klaus kneeling in between them and his tongue darts out to wet his lips; when his eyes flicker over to the door and then back to Klaus in front of him, Klaus smiles and tilts his head to rest it on Diego’s leg.

 

“What are you—” He starts, then cuts himself off, swallowing. “Klaus, we can’t.”

 

“No?” Klaus asks, innocently. “Alright.”

 

“I’m serious.” He continues insistently. “We really shouldn’t.” Even despite his words he’s leaning down, talking right into Klaus’ mouth. Right now he could reach out, take Diego by the back of the neck and pull his close until their mouths met.

 

All of a sudden there’s the sound of echoing footsteps against the floor and Diego only just has the time to push Klaus backwards so that he falls on his ass before the door is being flung open. Light from the hallway floods the room and there’s a man in the doorway, casting a long, intimidating shadow along the floor to where Klaus is currently sprawled.

 

Reginald Hargreeves, Klaus assumes.

 

“Diego,” the man barks, not sounding at all amused by the situation in front of him. “I thought you understood the rules of the house. There are to be no guests unless otherwise stated by me in advance.”

 

The change is instantaneous: the Diego Klaus can see in front of him now is not the Diego everyone sees at school. He sits up with a grim expression on his face, back ramrod straight and hands clasped together in his lap to hide the tremble in them. He looks… terrified. Klaus swallows the sick feeling rising in his throat.

 

“I’m s–sorry, sir.” Diego stutters. “This was a last minute thing. Klaus had to come over to study, w–we’re doing a—”

 

“Do _not_ talk back to me, Diego.” Hargreeves commands. He isn’t shouting, but his voice carries around the room like he’s screaming his head off. “Your mother will be serving dinner in ten minutes. I expect your friend to be gone before then.”

 

He leaves then, closing the door gently with all the effect of slamming it, leaving Diego quiet and embarrassed. Klaus wants to say something to make him feel better, but he’s been in this situation too many times before to know that nothing can really make it seem better. Trying would just be an insult.

 

“Is that why you didn’t want to come here?” Klaus asks eventually, when the silence has dragged on for too long.

 

Diego clears his throat, probably trying to sound subtle. “Don’t worry about it, Klaus.” He says gruffly, and doesn’t move.

 

Things are starting to fit together now: the Hargreeves’ behaviour at school, their weirdly unfitting respect towards all their teachers, Diego’s own attitude towards his potential homosexuality. Klaus understands, and he almost wishes he didn’t.

 

“I could push him down the stairs for you, if you wanted?” Klaus offers, trying for a smile. Diego snorts, and then inhales sharply like he’s afraid his father will burst in again. He shakes his head.

 

“Just go, Klaus. Don’t tell anyone about this.”

 

“Diego,” Klaus tries, not really knowing what to say. “Of course. Of course I won’t tell anyone. But you… you should tell someone.”

 

Diego shakes his head again, insistent. “No,” he says. “There’s no point. I’m almost eighteen.”

 

Klaus stands up on shaky legs and sits down next to Diego on the bed; Diego turns his back on Klaus so that he’s facing the wall and hangs his head. When he feels Klaus’ fingers making light, uncertain, fluttery movements over his shoulders he hunches them and retreats further into a shell Klaus didn’t even know existed.

 

“Listen,” Klaus says eventually with a defeated sigh. “Do you want to know why Ben and I live on our own like we do?”

 

Underneath his fingertips he can feel Diego’s shoulders untensing, can feel his interest in the slight turn of his head.

 

“My mom was a piece of shit. I never knew my dad, but if he was anything like my mom then I’m glad because having him around would have been ten times worse. A lot of the time she didn’t have a job, and I’d come back from school to find her passed out in a pool of her own vomit. She got high a lot, which, ha, I guess she passed onto me.”

 

At Diego’s sudden, worried look Klaus feels his heart melt a little bit.

 

“I’m just kidding.” He assures the other boy. “I smoke occasionally, but I’ve seen what that shit can do to you. I don’t want to end up like her.”

 

Diego nods, and lets out a long, unsteady breath.

 

“We never had a lot of food in the house, so I was a skinny kid. What we did have always ended up with my mom or whatever new boyfriend she had around. I get that— that she was an addict, and that’s a serious issue and everything, but she was my _mom_ , y’know? She was meant to protect me, put me first, shit like that. I think I’ll always resent her for not doing that.”

 

“Anyway,” He continues, surprised by the lump in his throat and the suspicious wetness on his cheeks. “Eventually my teachers figured out something was wrong, and CPS came round and took me away. I was… fourteen, I think? When I was put into care. That’s where I met Ben. I’d seen him around the neighbourhood a few times, and it turned out he was living in this big group home place not so far away from here. That’s all there is to it, really. We moved out when we were sixteen and got an apartment together. He doesn’t talk about his past much, but if he was there I figure it has to be bad.”

 

“Shit,” Diego breathes out slowly, big, brown eyes trained on Klaus’ face. “Klaus, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—”

 

Klaus claps a hand over the boy’s mouth and smiles, shaking his head. “That’s not why I told you. I told you so that you’d know you aren’t alone. I don’t know what exactly goes on here, but if you need to tell someone then there are people that will listen. There are people that will take you seriously. I promise.”

 

There’s a beat of silence where Diego lets Klaus wrap his arms around him from behind, drape his body over Diego’s shoulders and rest his chin in the crook of Diego’s neck.

 

“If he found out that I’m— that I like—” He cuts himself off, but Klaus can guess what he’s trying to say. “It would be awful. I’m too scared to tell Luther or Allison, in case they give it away somehow. I just want him to be _gone_.”

 

By the end of his speech Diego sounds almost choked up, and Klaus really doesn’t want him to start crying right now. He hates it when people cry, because he always ends up crying with them. Season finales with Ben are the worst.

 

“Hey,” He says jokingly, taking Diego’s face in his hands. Carefully, he turns Diego back around so that their lips almost brush. “My offer to push him down the stairs still stands?”

 

Diego laughs wetly at first, and then he’s pulling Klaus closer, pushing their lips together. It’s chaste and sweet - everything Klaus didn’t expect Diego Hargreeves to be - and after only a few seconds Diego is ducking his head and pulling Klaus in for an unexpected hug. He wraps his arms around the other boy uncertainly, stroking the back of his head and holding him close until his breathing is steady again.

 

“You should go.” Diego says eventually, pulling back and surreptitiously wiping his face with his sleeve. “Sorry. It’s just, if he comes back and sees you’re still here, y’know?”

 

“I know,” Klaus nods. He’s quick to gather his belongings back up and trudge over to the door, hand resting on the handle. Then, “Diego?”

 

Diego looks up, wide eyed. “Yeah?”

 

“Don’t be a dick about this in school tomorrow, okay?” He asks, hopefully.

 

“Okay,” Diego nods, smiling.

 

“Diego?”

 

“What, Klaus?” Diego replies, exasperated.

 

“You’re definitely gonna need to help me find my way out of here.”

 

Diego rolls his eyes.


End file.
